18 



BULLETIN 291, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



will be seen, therefore, that millet produced grain with the use of less 

 water than was used by alfalf a in the production of hay. 



Table XI. — Water requirement of Dakota Kursk millet (A.D. I. No. 3) at Newell, S. Dak., 

 Akron, Colo., and Dalhart and Amarillo, Tex. 





Place and year. 



Water requirement 

 based on— 





Grain. 



Total dry 

 matter. 



Newell, S. Dak.: 



1912 



577±18 

 661±6 



239±3 



1913 



293 ±3 



1914 - 



311±11 















2S1±4 











Akron, Colo.: 



1912 



483±11 



187±1 



1913 



2SG±4 



1914 



1,074±38 



295 ±2 













25612 











Dalhart, Tex.: 



1912 





331 ±2 



Amarillo, Tex.: 



1913 



644 ±10 

 1,005±19 



269 ±2 



1914 



31S±4 













306 ±2 









CONCLUSIONS. 



It has been the experience of old settlers in the Great Plains that 

 successful farming in this region must include the raising of live stock. 

 This requires the production of forage crops under cultivation, since, 

 except in sand-hill regions and along the watercourses, the native 

 grasses do not grow tall enough for hay. The native "short grasses" 

 that cover the Plains usually produce sufficient feed for summer 

 pasturage, but cultivated crops must be depended upon for winter 

 feeding. In the northern Great Plains certain perennial crops — 

 alfalfa and brome-grass— give good results, but farther south the 

 annual forage crops, millet and sorgo especially, are the most depend- 

 able. These two crops have proved to be adapted to drought and 

 capable of producing profitable crops where the annual rainfall 

 averages from 12 to 18 inches. 



The drought adaptation of millet is due largely to its early maturity 

 and low water requirement, while sorgo has, in addition to these two 

 valuable characteristics, a remarkable ability to endure drought. 

 Even though its growth is severely checked during a period of drought, 

 it will resume growth upon the return of favorable conditions. It 

 has been shown that millet and sorgo require less water for the produc- 

 tion of a ton of hay than any other crops that have been tested in 

 the central Great Plains. 



The Kursk and Siberian varieties of millet have given larger yields 

 of hay than other varieties of this crop tested in the northern Great 



